“Regal Cinema’s movie theater monopoly in Charlottesville has ended, and the new kid on the block is planning to serve up something sure to have local cinephiles salivating: a Downtown theater that offers upscale food and cocktails along with indie film fare.

William S. Banowsky, Jr., owner of Violet Crown Cinema in Austin, is partnering with Downtown Regal building owner Dorothy Batten to open the next in what Banowsky hopes will be a successful chain of arthouse-cum-bar-and-restaurant theaters across the country (another is in the works in Santa Fe)."

saw a few great movies this last past weekend at the Virginia Film Festival – from what I can tell, this is an all ‘digital’ theater now – only one theater had a problem with a DCP and a DVD screener was shown instead – (ick! and boy was it obvious in terms of resolution). Interestingly, since the new Regal is opening over at the Stonefield Mall – the movies here at the downtown location will all be foreign, indie releases. [Thumbs up!] This is great since the screens tend to be placed high on the walls of the auditoriums, and viewing subtitles unobstructed is non-problematic.